supercat Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 For your next game, I'd suggest coding one that's never been done on the 2600 before. Betcha can't do Mappy! It's been awhile since I've seen Mappy; there would certainly be some unavoidable flicker when too many objects shared a line, but what fundamental problems if any would there be? Use the Ball to draw the door and the waves that project out (while waves are projecting from a door, flicker the door at 30Hz). Use a 2LK for most of the player sprites. Precalculate the sprite values for the 'floor' scan lines, and draw those with a combination of stores to COLUPF, COLUBK, and RESPBL. I think it should be possible to get smooth motion that way, and it should also be possible to handle the colored trampolines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 - Arkanoid (it would be a dream to play using paddles) I developed an awesome Arkanoid kernel for use on a SuperCharger (should also work well with 4A50). It features medium-resolution bricks (9, 12, or 15 pixels wide, with a restriction that all gaps between bricks must be 9, 12, 15, or a larger multiple of 3, pixels wide) in a nice variety of colors using 30Hz color-dithering flicker. It can display one player and both missiles using single-line resolution, and even supports reading one paddle controller. Only problem is I'm not all that keen on Arkanoid, so I don't feel to much like coding the actual game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Donkey Kong has always been one of my favorites and I may re-do it as a proof-of-concept sort of project since No-friend-o would flip if they found out. In other words, you wouldn't release your DK version in cart format. Yeah, that would be prudent. On the other hand, redoing DK would attract even more homebrew attention than even Lady Bug, although I'm sure you'd be hard-pressed to include all four arcade levels. Heck, just having the elevator level (in addition to the girder and rivet level) would be cool enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixelboy Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 I developed an awesome Arkanoid kernel for use on a SuperCharger (should also work well with 4A50). It features medium-resolution bricks (9, 12, or 15 pixels wide, with a restriction that all gaps between bricks must be 9, 12, 15, or a larger multiple of 3, pixels wide) in a nice variety of colors using 30Hz color-dithering flicker. It can display one player and both missiles using single-line resolution, and even supports reading one paddle controller. Only problem is I'm not all that keen on Arkanoid, so I don't feel to much like coding the actual game. That's quite interesting! If you don't feel like doing the actual game, would you happen to have a mockup you could show us, at least? I suppose you'd do the rolling capsules as simple colored rectangles, and the little critters would have one or two frames of animation... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.I.X.L. Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Hey Gang! Here's one I would love to see- MAKE TRAX! I had done a screen mockup and a box shot a few years ago. I had redesigned the brush and the characters. I will post more if I can find it. KEEP PLAYIN' LIKE ITS 1981! Ray www.abrightideaamusements.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 (edited) I hope new version of the 2600 Lunar Lander gets released in some form. What is the status on it? Some more I would like to see: Heinkyo Alien Galaga Video Pinball Arcade Gaplus Super Pac-Man game based on Tac Scan with a closing wall stage based on the third wave and a behind the ship stage ala solaris. Pepper 2 Turbo Edited July 13, 2006 by BrianC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 In other words, you wouldn't release your DK version in cart format. Yeah, that would be prudent. On the other hand, redoing DK would attract even more homebrew attention than even Lady Bug, although I'm sure you'd be hard-pressed to include all four arcade levels. Heck, just having the elevator level (in addition to the girder and rivet level) would be cool enough. Trademark protections are broader than copyrights, but companies have to keep paying maintenance fees to retain trademark protection. Nintendo has maintained its trademarks for Donky Kong; by contrast, Universal's trademarks for LadyBug have lapsed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 (edited) I hope new version of the 2600 Lunar Lander gets released in some form. What is the status on it? I worked on the new version of 2600 Lunar Lander. It's ok, but lacks polish for a true release IMO (it was my first 2600 game). Maybe someday... Some more I would like to see: Heinkyo Alien Galaga Video Pinball Arcade Gaplus Super Pac-Man game based on Tac Scan with a closing wall stage based on the third wave and a behind the ship stage ala solaris. Pepper 2 Turbo Galaga/Gaplus: probably too much going on to be doable on a 2600 (Galaxian is probably the best that can be done) Super Pac-man: Hmmmm.... Turbo: There was an April Fool's joke sponsored by our very own Thomas (TJ) that was a pretty decent proof-of-concept that could be a decent game. Edited July 13, 2006 by johnnywc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 If you don't feel like doing the actual game, would you happen to have a mockup you could show us, at least? I suppose you'd do the rolling capsules as simple colored rectangles, and the little critters would have one or two frames of animation... See my blog. There are some demos there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r_type2600 Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Somehow feels like Christmas in July, with everyone posting their wishlist for arcade conversions to Santa Johnny Can't help to post another request... What about Space Panic? The first ever platformer (if I recall correctly), another sleeper hit, original and addicting gameplay, no license worry, and a good warmup for Donkey Kong... Getting back to Lady Bug, great to see you have now included the last game score & veggie level display in the demo gameplay screen, Johnny. Perfect. In fact, with that, the demo "game over" screen has now lost its function, and maybe you'd like to consider dropping it? May free a couple more bytes... I also like the Lady Bug animation on the title screen - it is minimalist, but very elegant Cheers, Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 (edited) I wouldn't mind seeing a better Burgertime port on the 2600, but is it possible? Maybe if it allowed for flicker? Are closer ports of Bump 'n Jump and Lock 'n Chase a possibility? I love the 2600 ports of them, but I wonder what could be done with these games if they allowed for flicker. I saw that Turbo joke for the 2600. It's part of the reason I suggested Turbo (the other reason is becuase it was one of the infamous unreleased Coleco games). I love the 2600 Ladybug. I like how it has the music and death animations from the arcade. I still can't believe that it has a maze complete with rotating doors and the letters and objects from the arcade. I seriously doubt that the Coleco one would be anywhere near as good if it was released. Edited July 13, 2006 by BrianC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zach Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Didn't mean to derail the Ladybug discussion with one sentence. Anyway, I'll add Pengo to the list. The gameplay just isn't there in the existing port. It wouldn't be Pengo without the Popcorn music, and I'm not sure how difficult it would be to get permission. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 (edited) Didn't mean to derail the Ladybug discussion with one sentence. Anyway, I'll add Pengo to the list. The gameplay just isn't there in the existing port. It wouldn't be Pengo without the Popcorn music, and I'm not sure how difficult it would be to get permission. Just a thought. I like the Popcorn music, but it's not like the alternate music used in one of the arcade versions and Atari 800/5200 versions is poorly done. The 2600 version of the music loops too quickly and should be turned off. The 800/5200 version is very close to the arcade and the music doesn't loop like the 2600 version. The changed music in no way hampers gameplay. Oddly enough, a couple unofficial clones of Pengo for the C64 actually have Popcorn. Chilly Willy has the theme from Dallas as the title screen music and Popcorn durning gameplay. The board width seems to be different from other versions, but the 2600 one seems to play fine to me. It has all of the elements intact, even the bonus counter at the end of each level. Is a closer width to the arcade possible on the 2600? Edited July 13, 2006 by BrianC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 May I suggest Robby Roto for a compromise then? Never heard of Robby Roto - and I see it got 0 votes in your poll... Maybe I'll skip that one.... Oh it just fit into the "Mr. Do! / Dig Dug" context. If you want to go by poll votes, then Tron would be the first choice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panamajoe Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 i´d love to see a version of "food fight" on the 2600. Great, great game... or.. "dr. mario"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Donkey Kong has always been one of my favorites and I may re-do it as a proof-of-concept sort of project since No-friend-o would flip if they found out. Ehh, it's been done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 Donkey Kong has always been one of my favorites and I may re-do it as a proof-of-concept sort of project since No-friend-o would flip if they found out. Ehh, it's been done. Nice! Is that a real screen shot or a mockup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbanes Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Nice! Is that a real screen shot or a mockup? It's a mockup. Look at the filename. Besides, there are a few things showing that aren't exactly possible. For example, the Oil Barrel, the fireball, and the barrel are all on the same scanlines. No can do. Presumably a real game would use flicker. That being said, it's an excellent mockup. The person who did it was pretty clear on what the 2600 could and couldn't do, and thus made a mockup to play to its strengths. Too bad the rest of the levels aren't mocked up as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Yup, flicker is assumed. The playfield Donkey Kong at the top is almost certainly impossible as well, unless you make him the same color as the rest of the playfield. But that looked like crap, so nyah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbanes Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 The playfield Donkey Kong at the top is almost certainly impossible as well, unless you make him the same color as the rest of the playfield. Hmm? Why's that? There's enough gap between the barrels and DK there to feasibly flip the playfield color. Flipping it back on time for the platform/ladders would be far more tricky, but still doable. Worst case, you could shift the platform over a smidge to make more room for DK. One thing to keep in mind is that the top few lines would be needed for sprite positioning. (Given that a multisprite kernal would be a necessity.) This would probably reduce the size of the top two ladders, unless some trickery was used to incorporate it into the sprite positioning count. Another way of getting around this is to use the overscan time to pre-position the sprites for the next frame. The only problem is that this could interact badly with any logic performed during the blanking period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 If you'd ask me, the only way of doing Kong as in the mockup is two double width sprites... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Wow - talk about thread derails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 (edited) Wow - talk about thread derails Agreed! (no thanks to me) I've started a new thread if there are any other ideas. So, is anyone still playing Lady Bug??? Edited July 13, 2006 by johnnywc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdub_bobby Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 So, is anyone still playing Lady Bug??? Played it last night on my Krok Cart; it looks, sounds, and plays fantastic! Didn't play much, but didn't see any graphic glitches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Somebody is playing it on actual 2600 hardware. Good. Can't wait to see it in an actual cartridge. Even on Novice level, the game can still whip my butt on the later levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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